2015-2016 空鏡與隔間 Shots of Rooms and Scenery

在電影中， 藉著物件或景象來比喻、象徵或暗示某些情節與情緒的鏡頭，是為空鏡頭，簡稱為空鏡。其中又有寫景和寫物的分別，它用創作者獨有的隱喻來闡述背景、時間與事件，讓觀者得以用自己的方式來解讀創作者的心態與想法。

 

在前作《日夢之所》中，在描繪不同對象的房間與物件時，希冀能誠實表達出居住者的個人線索(包含氣味、情感與分為等..)，而在此次的創作中，我嘗試用不同的「鏡」來構築不同的「境」，這個鏡不僅僅是鏡面、鏡像，更是能夠互相觀看的鏡頭，在同一個空間裡，互相窺視的鏡頭在同一平面中，運用物件與空間、隔間等比喻，映照出不同局部與情節，讓觀者有如觀賞電影中的空鏡頭一般，留下神秘的解讀空間，在鏡與境的交錯中，無論是滿佈牆壁的紋路、沒有人的鏡子、堆疊的收藏品、茂盛的藤蔓與植栽，或許從這些詩般的意象能去感受在同一空間裡，不同時間的流動與故事的脈絡。

 

不同於電影畫面的隨時變動性，繪畫讓物件在同一平面上顯現更多靜態的屬性(如：透明度、顏色、排列順序、光線等..)，在安伯特．艾可所著的《無盡的名單》一書中，他提到特沙烏洛(Emanuele Tesauro)在其名作《亞里斯多德的望遠鏡》中提出的說法：「認為比喻(metaphor) 之為物，是在已知資料之間 (known data) 發現前所未知的關係 (hitherto unknown relationships) 的一個途徑，這件事的關鍵在於，你先建構一個儲存已知資料的庫藏，在這個庫藏的基礎上，以比喻方式運作的想像力(metaphoric imagination) 能夠發現新的關係⋯⋯」

 

在回顧創作歷程中，我也試著將《日夢之所》系列的每一幅畫作品視作一個物件，把這些「物件」(也就是畫作) 集合起來，「收藏」到同一個畫面中，在它們「聚集」的時候，每一個物件，以及物件中的物件，又被賦予了新的屬性，構成《日夢的物件》一作，每一個房間既獨立又與其他的鏡像與空間相互映照，有如貫穿在敘事線上的交錯空鏡頭，有單獨的情節，也有串連的故事。

 

如果將這些不同屬性物件的集合視為一份名單，我所做的，便是在它們之間，用想像力發揮前所未知的關係。與空鏡頭一樣，對觀者來說，它本質上可能只是一個實用的物件 (如:鏡子、手套、帽子、畫框等）、環境 (如:試衣間、牆面等)，但若以詩意的方式解讀它的形式與秩序 (映照記憶或夢境的鏡面，框中有框的無限空間或斑駁的牆壁與光影的交錯⋯⋯)，設想物件們觀看彼此的方式與角度(弔詭的透視、遠近的距離等)，在這些設想之中創造出嶄新的視覺樣貌。

 

In films, directors often use shots of objects or scenery as metaphors or implications to convey plots and emotions of characters. Sometimes these shots focus on scenery, sometimes on objects. By using this technique, the directors translate their ideas along with the story background, timeline and events into metaphors, encouraging the audeience to read these symbols in their views. 

 

In my previous project Their Rooms, Their Dreams (2014)*1., I wanted to present faithfully those unique, personal traces of residence (including the intangible, such a smell, emotions and atmosphere) through the depictions of different rooms and objects. As for this project, I tried to construct different scenes with various mirrors. These mirrors are not just piece of glasses, but lens for looking through. In the same space, on the same surface, the mirrors, reflrctions and the spaces between them are like metaphors which reveal all kinds of details and stories, creating a viewing experience similar to watching scenery shots in a film, leaving the audience space for interpretation. Among the mirrors, the lines on the walls, reflections of objects, personal collections, and exuberant vines form various poetic images, which allow the viewers to feel the flow of time and discover different stories of that space. 

 

Compared to the moving frames of films, paintings can better display the static characteristics of objects, such as transparency, colours, order and light. In The Infinity of List, Umberto Eco quotes from Emanuele Tesauro's The Aristotelian Telescope: " The Italian rhetorician Emanuele Terauro, in Il Cannochiale Aristotelico, or The Aristotelian Telescope (1665) proposes the model of the metaphor as a way to discover hitherto unknown relationships between unknown data. The method works by compiling a repertoire of known things that the metaphoric imagination can use to find new parallels, links and affinities."

 

While looking back the works I have done, the idea of combining them with this project came into mind. Thus I decided to turn every painting of Their Rooms, Their Dreams (2014)*1. into an item that can be collected and gathered together in Their Rooms and Their Dreams (2016)*2. Through this action of collecting, these paintings of rooms and items painted in them have then been given a new property. In Their Rooms and Their Dreams (2016)*2., the room pictures are separate yet linked together, serving as reflections of one another. The mirror images and the space of the rooms echo with each other, just like random shots that build up a storyline, in which one can find independent plots as well as story series. 

 

If the collection of these items with different properties can be seens as a list, what I do with this list is to use my imagination to discover the unknown relationships between them. Same as the objects in a scenery shot of a film, these items in the aintings are essentially what they are-objects or space with practical functions: mirror, gloves, hats, frames, a fitting room, walls and ect. However, once the viewers try to interpret in a poetic way the form and order of these items' existence in the paintings, a brand-new visual significance will be created. (For example, you might want to take a closer look at themirrors which reflect memories and dreams, the infinite space created by numerous frames, the scattering of light and shadows on the shabby walls or how the items interact with each other by observing details like the odd size and peculiar relative distance of the objects.)

 

 

*1. Their Rooms, Their Dreams (2014): The series of work in 2014 

*2. Their Rooms and Their Dreams (2016): A painting done in 2016